Technical Program Manager

Title:  Technical Program Manager
Job Type:  Contract
Contract Length:  6 months
Pay Range:  $60-68/hr
Start Date:  ASAP
Location:  Hybrid - Foster City, CA

About the Opportunity:

Our client, a leader in the autonomous vehicle industry, is looking for a skilled Technical Program Manager  to join their team for a 6-month engagement. This project involves leading and shaping some of their most complex, high-stakes engineering programs, operating with a high degree of autonomy, and driving strategic initiatives that span multiple teams, systems, and business lines. This is a high-impact role that requires a self-motivated professional who can hit the ground running and deliver results quickly.

Key Responsibilities & Deliverables:

This role is focused on the successful completion of specific tasks and deliverables. Your responsibilities will include:

• Lead end-to-end program management for large-scale, multi-team engineering initiatives with significant business impact, from strategy through delivery.
• Serve as a strategic partner to VP- and Director-level engineering and product leaders, influencing roadmaps, resourcing decisions, and organizational priorities.
• Define and evolve program management frameworks, processes, and best practices across the engineering organization.
• Drive alignment across complex dependency landscapes involving multiple teams, external partners, and competing priorities.
• Anticipate and proactively manage risks, escalations, and trade-offs at a program and portfolio level.
• Communicate clearly and confidently to executive audiences — translating technical complexity into business impact and vice versa.
• Mentor and coach junior TPMs and contribute to building a high-performing program management function.
• Actively participate in architectural and technical scoping discussions, providing informed input on feasibility, sequencing, and delivery risk.

Required Skills & Experience:

We are looking for someone with a proven track record of successful contract engagements. The ideal candidate will have:

• 7+ years of experience in technical program management, with a proven record of delivering complex, org-wide engineering programs.
• Deep expertise managing multi-team software programs across the full SDLC, including large-scale platform, infrastructure, or product initiatives. This isn't a learning role—you need to be a subject matter expert.
• Strong technical foundation—able to engage credibly in architectural discussions, understand system design trade-offs, and evaluate technical risk.
• Exceptional communication and executive presence—skilled at influencing without authority and navigating organizational dynamics.
• Experience building or improving program management processes and tooling at an organizational level.
• Proven ability to manage ambiguity, drive clarity, and make sound decisions under pressure in fast-paced environments.
• Ability to use AI tools to make informed technical decisions regarding a given design or code changes.
• Knowledge of how agentic AI models work and how to execute programs with AI chatbots.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience at a software company working on infrastructure, platform, or product engineering programs.
• Familiarity with cloud services (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and distributed systems concepts.
• PMP, PgMP, or Agile/Scrum certification is a plus.
• Prior background as a software engineer or in a technical role is advantageous.
• Excellent problem-solving and debugging skills.

W2 only (No C2C or 1099 contractors)

#LI-LG1